BEIJING, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso said Thursday strategic trust is something that should be nurtured in bilateral affairs with China.
Barroso is in Beijing as part of a delegation taking part in the 16th European Union-China summit, which began Wednesday.
Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, said China, is the second most important trading partner for the EU after the United States. Barroso said topics on the agenda during the two-day summit extended beyond economic affairs.
"We went beyond trade and we have added a political and security pillar to our relation and a people-to-people pillar that is bringing both Chinese and European people together," he said in a statement.
Barroso said both sides agreed on a 2020 agenda to guide bilateral affairs for the next decade. He said it was a document that included strategic aspects of EU-Chinese affairs.
"All this is consolidating a sentiment of strategic trust," he said. "Trust is something that needs to be nurtured and deserved on both sides."
Few specifics of the agenda were announced from Beijing. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was quoted by China's official Xinhua news agency as saying the 2020 measure had a broad reach.
"The plan is unprecedented in its breadth of content," he said.
